Dayak

In your journey across Borneo, officially known in Indonesia as Kalimantan, you will find various communities of Dayak ethnic with their own distinguished characteristic. Among villages reachable by a boat trip along Mendalam river is Semangkok village occupied by Dayak Taman ethnic. There are three – longhouses locally known as Betang – in the village, each occupied by between 12 to 16 households. The houses made of ironwood have been relocated three times. Each houses have 16 rooms, each 4 x 12 meters, in two story.

Allocation of rooms uniquely reflects social status of the occupants. Three clusters of the house are dedicated for certain purposes. The front-most part is allocated to dry rice and other food materials, the middle area is for communal purposes, and the back area is allocated as living quarter for sleep, cook, and other family activities.

The community of Dayak Taman has three different levels of social status, the royal family, middle class, and ordinary people. These days the gap between the middle class and ordinary people has started to fade away, but the high society remains as it is. They are still strongly bound to the tradition and maintain their traditional role as community leaders with Tumenggung as the head of the village. They have significant influence to the leadership of the village and decision makings especially those related to traditional rules.

Getting further along Mendalam river will bring you to the upper stream area where the ethnic of Dayak Kayan lives. The area is divided into seven villages namely Long Miting, Tanjung Karang, Teluk Telaga, Padua, Tanjung Kuda, Tanjung Durian, and Datah Diaan. Community of Dayak Kayan has two different classes, Hipi the upper class and Lalii the ordinary people. In the past they used to have the third class, the slaves seized during the traditional activity of mengayau, headhunting. The tradition was wiped away as religion introduced in the 20th century.

Dayak Kayan lives on farming both on dry and wet land. Their men are known for their skills in cutting trees, shrubs, and grasses to clear land for farming purpose. Just like their neighbor Dayak Taman, the people of Dayak Kayan has good farming skill, making them the supplier of rice for Dayak Punam and other sub-ethnics of Dayak in the area especially when dry season gets to its worst.

These days the majority of Dayak Kayan is no longer living in Betang, the traditional long house, especially after the influence of religion. Back in 1972, the last betang was destroyed. Now they have a communal hall for community activities as well as producing local handicrafts.

Dayak Kayan has a unique tradition which is even more colorful than the tradition of the better known Dayak Kenyah living in East Kalimantan. Their cultural festivals are held in April and September. Locally known as Dange, the event is very important to their community. Dange is a festival intended as an expression of gratitude for successful crops. Dange is initially held in each village, but the peak is held in one village attended by everyone from all villages.During the event, various traditional performances are presented including art, dance, music, food, and traditional beverage.

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